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CANCUN, Mexico—The Virginia men’s basketball team returns to action in the Cancun Challenge on Wednesday (Nov. 25) when the Cavaliers play Cleveland State at 7 p.m. Eastern time. UVa lost to Stanford 57-52 on Tuesday (Nov. 24) and Kentucky beat Cleveland State 73-49.

The Virginia-Cleveland State game will be carried on the Virginia Sports Radio Network and televised by CBS College Sports.

Junior guard Jeff Jones scored a season-high 17 points and sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg had 16 to lead the Cavaliers, who are now 3-2 on the season, in the loss to Stanford. Landesberg has scored in double figures in each of the Cavaliers’ five games.

Junior forward Mike Scott scored seven points and had a team-high nine rebounds against Stanford. Senior forward/center Jerome Meyinsse had a season-high eight rebounds for the Cavaliers.

Virginia shot just 37.8 percent (17-45) from the field, including 22.2 percent (4-18) from three-point range, and 58.3 percent (14-24) from the free-throw line against the Cardinal. The Cavaliers also turned the ball over 13 times and had 10 assists.

Landesberg leads Virginia in scoring with an average of 15.4 points a game and Scott is averaging 12.0 points per game. Scott leads the team in rebounding with an average of 9.2 rebounds a game and junior guard Mustapha Farrakhan has 13 assists to lead the team in that department.

UVa’s game with Cleveland State is the first meeting between the two teams.

Cleveland State, a member of the Horizon League, enters Wednesday’s game with an overall record of 3-2 after the loss to Kentucky. Junior guard Norris Cole, who is averaging 18.4 points a game, leads the Vikings.

“I was impressed early with them against Kentucky, how physical they are, how they play with a chip on their shoulder,” UVa head coach Tony Bennett said of Cleveland State. “They play hard and they are very well coached. They are a good defensive team. They turned over Kentucky’s guards so many times and they just couldn’t hang with the talent. They will come after us and we’ll have to be ready.”

Gary Waters is in his fourth season as head coach at Cleveland State and his 14th season as a collegiate head coach. His Cleveland State teams have compiled an overall record of 60-47 and his overall record is 231-182.

After playing Cleveland State, Virginia returns to action on Monday (Nov. 30) when the Cavaliers host Penn State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at John Paul Jones Arena. That game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2.

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